Knowledge Base

Everything posted by Nuhai Ling

Czari and Daja, you know better than to speak of things that shall not be spoken of... let others do it for you!
On this topic, here is the most refered to "unofficial" announcement concerning the SL Conventions. Hope you enjoy!
http://www.metaversejournal.com/2012/07/16/the-end-of-the-second-life-community-convention/

There was no formal announcement but the organizers of the CL conventions have discontinued them. There were many factors such as a drop in interest because of the mass exodus of educators and non-profits last winter, but mostly it was due to Linden Lab no longer assisting or willing to show up. This is in line with the lab's recent change of priorities away from SL and to their new app projects.

I would love to see Linden Lab get out of Second Life... as in stop being a competitor in the free economic market that used to thrive. Toss out the free Linden homes, freebie gifts, Linden Realms, and so on. Make the grid "adult" again instead of believing sordid content is limited to Zindra. Allow banking and gambling back. Develop an incentive for selling products in-world rather than making it a liability compared to the Marketplace. End "preferred" discounts to land barons so everyone is equal in the land business. Limit the land mass to create value. And the list can go on and on...
Linden Lab should stick with making the world, not making it work. Stabilize the grid and viewers, work out lag issues, hire back a customer service department, take an economics 101 class, etc. then let it revert back to what made it a remarkable experience; "Our World, Our Experience" instead of "Linden's Hypocritical World of Denial."
These are strong words I know but I still have hope... Even God did a reboot of the world so it could happen to Second Life, right?

Reading the replies so far, here are a couple things I can add...
Unless I missed it, Linden Lab did not give an official reason for stopping the reports in their own media such as the blogs. There was a quick comment made to a third party news agency by a Linden that said they were discontinued because there was no interest in them by the residents...
The number of Marketplace items being added seems to be directly proportionate to the number of sims closing / land being abandoned in-world. Savvy producers no longer see a need to maintain large stores or small satellite booths in-world. Less stores means fewer jobs, less time spent in-world, etc.
Mesh is also affecting the number of hours spent in-world because the software used to make it does not require logging in. Prior to mesh, all building required being logged unless developers were making custom textures.
In short, Linden Lab has created fewer and fewer reasons to enter Second Life except to play. Consequently, its transition from a vibrant virtual world & economy into another game platform is accelerating. Whether that was by design or the consequence of poor decision making will probably never be known.

There are three phases a Linden name goes through...
The account is created by Master Linden when a new employee is hired. It appears as a normal account until it is used to sign in.
Once the new Linden signs in, the automated system gives them "the hand." Signing in to the grid is different than the forums which is why an in-world Linden might be without "the hand" in the blogs.
Once the Linden leaves, the system downgrades them to just "the finger."
Because SL and its associated forums, blogs, etc. are no longer Linden Lab's priority, hires who never learn about them appear to go strait from creation to being given "the finger."
Linden Lab plans to correct this problem with a new app due out this winter. With one touch, employees will update to "the hand" without any knowledge of Second Life AND it will give regular users "the finger" too. For those not using Apple iPads, Linden Lab is assuring all its residents they will get "the finger" eventually!
Aren't you glad you asked?! :matte-motes-big-grin:

Wow, that is interesting but I don't think its hard to explain at all. Aside from the fact that "long-term linden" is an oxymoron these days, his tweet reminding the lab that "you run a ****ing world" speaks volumes. Its also an open door for a little fun! What does everyone else think he meant by saying that?
Here are my guesses:
Second Life is not a game, stop treating it like one.
There are real people behind the avatars, start treating them like that.
Second Life... don't forget about it because it is still paying your salary while you play with iPad apps.
Or just take it literally...
Zindra and the adult places are all that's left of a once-active virtual world... so Second Life really is just a ****ing world! :matte-motes-big-grin-squint:
Good luck Yoz!

Two out of four new products and we are nearing the end of September? It explains a lot about the feeling many have that SL is being significantly neglected by Linden Lab. On the good side though, Linden Lab is entering the low learn / low hardware demand of the Pad market which may draw some interest back to it as a company. If any of the four products become popular that will certainly help improve their public image at least. As for interest... well, I have none. They sound like low-end SL building apps with no social network, kinda like piddling with photo-editing or kiddy paint apps while waiting for movie previews to play at the theater. Maybe LL's marketing people can work up something more exciting and encouraging to say about it...

... told people in Real Life I will look in my inventory for something when I should have said my closet / room / apartment / desk.
... answered Real Life questions with, "No, not in Real Life" or, "Yes, in Real Life I have" on occasion.
... heard my Real Life heels clicking on hard surfaces and looked at my shoes as if I was about to click them for the AO menu.
... asked someone in Real Life to IM me instead of talking in open chat.
... wished cute guys had profiles in Real Life (among other things!).
... wondered if a Real Life person was the same gender as they appeared.
... dreamed of myself as my avi in SL.

As mentioned by others, look for reports from Tyche Sheppard; they are the most accurate. Linden Lab no longer provides any data on their grid which may seem odd but is in line with their recent move to operate Second Life as a game platform. Of course if you ask anyone that has been in SL for a while and paid attention to grid statistics, Linden Lab's reports were always questionable and often suggested "creative interpretation" of the numbers. If you are looking for this information as a guide to possible business ventures, I would recommend staying away from SL or any MMO/MMOG for right now. A huge majority are in decline and there are other virtual opportunities that look safer to enter. Whether SL is declining as fast or faster than others is impossible to say without Linden Lab offering their financial reports, but most residents "feel" it is slipping much faster this year compared to the previous three.

I noticed that a lot of talk on this thread has to do with meeting other people. I am asked this a lot and here is the advice I have:
Make a list of all your interests and then do a search for things associated with them. Sometimes the most "closeted" ones have the best places and groups. For instance, the first group that welcomed me into SL was the Trek fans... yes, I admit it, I like Star Trek. Having similar interests is a great ice breaker and usually there are people that love meeting new friends and showing you around.
Not all people respond to you in open chat or IM so do not be offended by it. Many leave SL running in the background if they are listening to the audio feed, chatting in IM, etc. etc. This happens at clubs and contests a lot so listen to open chat to see who is actually paying attention.
Do read profiles and don't IM without saying at least hello in open chat. Profiles will tell you a lot about a person and if they are open to starting conversations. Trying open chat first is just a common courtesy... think of it like saying hello in person rather then finding their cell number and calling without them knowing you.
Fill out your own profile with interesting things about you. People who spend a decent amount of time read profiles constantly, so having one filled out will get you much more noticed.
Last but not least, work on you avatar. Make yourself look unique, approachable, and interesting. You do not have to spend a lot as long as you look like an individual. This is also a good ice breaker no matter how long you are in SL. If you see someone with an outfit, hair, or whatever that catches your eye, say hello and ask them who the designer is. In fact, sending a short, polite IM asking this is the only time I would condone a private message without an open chat greeting first. This is a compliment to the person you are asking and rarely if ever have I ever not had someone say thank you for asking and find me an LM to the store.
Good luck and don't get frustrated!

I had two mainland regions I own parcels on also collapse this week which caused up to 16 hours of disruption so it is not just a private sim thing. Here is what to do...
If you own / rent a parcel or whole region on a private sim (not mainland), contact the owner first. They have concierge service which is usually the fastest responder. If they are not available, file a "region down / restart" support ticket.
If you are on the mainland, file a "region down / restart" ticket first. These are responded to first IF someone is at the Linden Lab office watching things. Next check your clock. If it is after 8 AM and before midnight on the weekdays, or 8 AM to 6 PM weekends, sign into Help Live and request a restart.
In both cases, someone at Linden Lab needs to push a button. Since they laid off a large number of their staff and reduced their customer service hours a few years ago though, there are times when no monkey is at the console. That is when you file the tickets and wait until morning... or early afternoon if you are in Europe.
As a last resort you can call the CEO at home and have him cattle-prod the other Lindens. His number is...

Love this thread, wish I had seen it earlier! Thinking totally SL, my top annoying phrases are:
Linden love... although I think it is totally appropriate naming the most common transaction in SL (tips for sexual activities) after the company, just once I want to really make love to a Linden... and then have him tip me to make the love redundant!
Your World, Your Imagination... this is becoming outmoded with Linden Lab developing things like Linden Realms, Homes, and the Freebie program. SL is still a builder's paradise but who wants (or needs) to learn any more?
Second Life is not a game... outmoded since January 2012, confirmed a few weeks ago with the Steam announcement.
Want to f*ck? As an opening line from someone I just met, this makes me want to scream out, "Yes... Yes... YES!" and then go back to eating my sandwich.
Any greeting while I am obviously busy with someone else... just plain rude in either world.
Will you be my friend? I love when people ask me first in chat for friendship, I HATE when the blue box pops up unsolicited, especially from people I don't even see around me.
Automated group joiners, notecard givers, etc... I don't even wait to read them, DECLINE DECLINE DECLINE!
Woo hoo hoo hoo!!!! Whoever invented this automated gesture for dance club staff should be shot... with no chance to re-rez.
Why should I pay for [insert item or service] when I can get it for free? Good question, why should you? Go away now...
Do you cam? Yes I do... I can feed my SL view into Skype, Yahoo!, or any other cam service but it seems redundant to me.
Do you voice? Yes I do... do you listen?
Linden Labs... It is Linden Lab, not plural. Can you imagine how much they would screw up if they had more than one?
Your sex parts are showing... Damn! You would think by now I would know just putting my pants on doesn't cover my hoo-hoo like real life! :matte-motes-agape:

Do and don't...
Don't believe the guy that wants to "See what this bed does."
Don't wear a gift that requires you to type something like "/69 owner [insert name of person who gave it to you]"
Don't believe that RLV means "Really Likable Visitor"
DO search for your closeted interests, like Star Trek, fairy living, or how to be a mermaid.
DO explore many places, even the less visited places.
DO talk to others and say hello.
DO play with yourself... dress up, change shapes, try skins, etc.
Follow those and the rest will come naturally.... :matte-motes-bashful-cute-2:

Steam huh? Ok, that is a new one for me but I will check it out. Glad all the Lindens are big fans of it; at least we know now where they are instead of working on Second Life. :matte-motes-big-grin:
This quote was the most telling of all though, "Many of us have friends who are avid Steam GAMERS, but if you’re not familiar, Steam is a very popular online GAME platform that offers a wide range of titles." A game platform? Hmmm...
Anyone else old enough to remember the montra, "Second Life is not a game.... Second Life is not a game...." No? Why not?
Oh cr*p! My avi lifelight is red! Time to go to Carousel I guess... there is no place in the dome for people like me over 30 days old. *sigh*

This is an easy questions to answer. No account is ever fully erased, even if it is "deleted" by the user. When I was a newbie years ago I made a second avatar thinking I had lost my first one and shortly afterward chose to abandon / delete it. Several years later I ran across the name in a search I was doing and thought how odd. When I pulled up the profile, there she was just as I had left her. When I tried to log in with her though I got the message that she was no longer an active / registered avatar. I later had a Linden confirm that abandoned avatars remain in a limbo state because of how inventory "ownership" works. So when it comes to the hundreds of Linden avatars, they are kept in purgatory so their work remains in the system even though they may be completely inactive and inaccessible. Sorry to solve the mystery, but at least you found a way to know how many Linden employees with avatars there have been over the years!!

I love ban lines and security orbs because it tells me the owners are trying to hide something or want privacy. Usually when I encounter them, I get far enough away not to be sent home and then cam all over the parcel to see what I am not suppose to. If the owner is there, I then IM him/her and ask how they are doing, what they like, and why they have such tight security. Usually they are very happy to answer my questions, especially while banging their companion(s) or doing whatever activities they wanted privacy for. I find this is a great way to meet and make new friends! I highly recommend any new residents try this type of thing too; it is a great way to learn about Second Life and gain a popular reputation around the grid!

The loss of mainland is a simple result of it being cheaper to buy and abandon than the cost of tier to maintain it. Here is how it works.
Resident A buys 4096M of land to build a home, business, or whatever at a price of L$1 per meter. While they own it, they pay $25.00 USD - or about L$6000 - per month in tier. After a few months the resident decides land ownership is not for them. Since so much land is available through Gov. Linden at L$1 per meter, the best the resident can hope to get is his initial purchase price of L$4096. The resident puts it up for sale and then waits until the day before his tier is due. If he/she has not found a buyer, it is cheaper to abandon the land than keep it.
This is the case for all tier levels.
When the mainland had a market (back in the old days) there was an incentive to hold onto parcels for at least one tier cycle (and often more) because there was a chance to recoup the sale price plus tier costs. For instance, in the example above the resident could break even if he/she sold her land at L$2.5 per meter or more within one tier cycle. This same price-to-cost consideration is what drove the mainland virtual real estate business until it was flooded with Gov. Linden land being sold below the threshold of monthly tier cost.
So the solution is simple; Gov. Linden needs to exceed the tier-to-land price ratio by creating a greater demand for land. To do this is a function of supply which means shrinking the total land mass and eliminating "free" housing programs. This would cause supply and demand to re-align and push prices high enough to justify keeping parcels on the market for at least one tier cycle. This simple economic model also explains why Zindra has the last viable land market. Without "free" Linden homes and a limited land mass generally assured not to expand, the market there sustains about a L$6 per meter price. This is well above the level required to entice residents to hold onto land for at least one tier cycle and support a virtual real estate market.
Sadly, in the five-plus years I have been in SL, I have never seen or heard Linden Lab consider its in-world economic health as important. In fact, looking at how little the linden and total land mass has fluctuated over time shows that it is being unnaturally supported as a corporate/socialist function rather than a free market. Doing so has made Second Life to what it is today and likely will doom it to collapse as a resident-driven virtual world.

If SL were to shut down the first thing I would do is curse at not cashing out before my lindens were lost and then Google the law firm filing the class-action lawsuit to try and get some of it back in equivalent USD!
After that, I would probably find an alternate OpenSim company and set up a place for those I knew so we could meet. If it became successful I would be pleased but most likely it would be a temporary stop until I found the next cool on-line thing to waste my midnight hours.
I think many would do the same thing much like moving from one electronic system to another. If we didn't, we would all still be paying AOL for dial-up and searching the web with Yahoo!

I have to agree with Zed Avedon who said, "The 'Second Life' brand is a disaster, but changing the brand without changing the product is pointless... Only when a professional, visionary company buys Second Life will it be possible to rebrand it."
In all probability either Second Life will continue to be an experiment that had potential but failed to be widely used or another company will develop a competitive product that forces Linden Lab into obscurity much like Google did to Yahoo!. Rebranding would not eliminate Second Life's history, current condition, or outlook, it would only drain money from its already shrinking line of revenue.
Revising the question a little bit, what might a Second Life competitor's grid be called? That is a good question because a brand name can make all the difference. For example, Blue Mars made their concept sound like it was only for sci-fi fans while OpenSim sounds like an offshoot of the Sims games. Second Life was a good choice because of its continuity to our first life, so it would be good to follow that logic. Something like Earth 2.0, Virtual Life, or Alternativerse might work. Whatever was chosen though would have to be descriptive, catchy, and marketable.

I have the same experience as Klackie Alsop does; a Linden comes to tuck me in and kisses my forehead every night too... Then they turn off the lights and close the door so no one else sees or hears what happens after that. When I was a younger avatar I didn't really understand what was happening but now after years of being treated like this I know how wrong it is. What can I do though? I am too embarrassed to talk to anyone about my Second Life because their looks make me feel dirty, and the few I have told say if its so bad I should just leave. I don't have anyplace to go though, and even if I did find a new home I could not bring anything with me. I guess I am just stuck in this abusive relationship until I die. It is almost bedtime now so don't tell the Lindens I said anything; as bad as the relationship is they could always make it worse. I have to go be quiet now...

Normally I don't update my own comments but a good friend pointed out something I totally underestimated yet hinted at in other posts. Put simply, is Linden Lab already abandoning their Second Life product? Combine the following changes so far this year and draw your own conclusions:
The Lindens use to be active in the forums posting updates, plans, etc. almost weekly. The last significant post was made on March 19. The last time the CEO posted anything was in December 2011.
Grid and linden metrics are no longer reported by Linden Lab.
The Second Life Community Convention is no longer sponsored or supported by Linden Lab, likely leading the non-profit that once managed it to discontinue having the convention this year.
According to the Phoenix homepage, Linden Lab "has chosen not to participate" in the SL9B community birthday event this year. 20 regions were donated by residents and businesses "for the benefit of the community" meaning someone is paying Linden Lab to have their own birthday party.
Also according to the Phoenix homepage, Linden Lab has withdrawn their sponsorship and participation in the Burning Man / Burn 2 event this year.
If you know of anything else Linden Lab has discontinued doing that would seem a logical part of supporting their own flagship product, please feel free to add it to the list!

Rodvick, Phillip, Osker, and Maestro all turn robotically to Elite Runner and simultaneously say, "Hello, we are working on new and exciting things, some not related to Second Life. Please refer to our last forum communications in March. Have a good day!"
Elite Runner smacks his own forehead with the realization that Lindens, especially leadership ones, don't visit the grid, Instead, they have been replaced by bots using the new pathfinding tools developed to make Second Life appear full of people.
"Damn NPCs!" declares Elite Runner, "I keep forgetting Second Life sims are now becoming the Sims in Second Life!"
With a shrug, Elite Runner signs off the grid and goes shopping for new running shorts at the Market Place...

After working in SL for 5-plus years now I have been asked this question a lot, especially from business people that for the most part have unfortunately left SL. The answer is not clearly black and white, mostly because - as mentioned in other replies - Linden Lab is reporting less and less information to its users about current conditions and future plans. In a nutshell though, this is how I explain the current situation.
When SL was first made, it truly was a user-based virtual world and quickly developed into an economic "game" whereby the linden was both a way to judge success and also a means to earn RL money. For USA citizens in particular, this was an incredibly novel idea and it attracted people from all fields of interest from bankers to hookers. For those who were around in 2006-2007, the lindens flowed like honey. Since then, however, Linden Lab has systematically eliminated most sources of in-world revenue although not likely in a conspiracy-type way considering their employee turnover. First to go was gambling and banking due to concerns about RL litigation. The land market was then pulverize with multiple hits by changes in the adult rating system, discontinuing non-profit / educational discounts, and the Linden "free" Home program. The biggest change though has been the buying and growth of the marketplace. Although it is reported as being successful in linden sales, the impact on in-world play has been dramatic. Content creators no longer need to buy or rent land to maintain stores for their products. Consequently, land sellers and renters have seen a cataclysmic decline in revenue. The loss of in-world stores has also eliminated a large portion of the jobs that once were plentiful, from models to managers, and the entertainment areas that were by-products of their entrepreneurship. This massive loss of business-related land and jobs lead to the biggest decline of in-world transactions and caused the once-robust in-world economy to flounder. Consequently, lindens are mostly transferred between a select few rather than the masses with little or no growth in the overall linden balance. The grid is also loosing land at an increasing rate, with over 1000 private regions closing - a nearly 5% decline - so far this calendar year.
There are other factors as well, including the big issues of grid functionality, the need for reliable viewers using mid-range computer requirements, the steep learning curve required of new residents, and general customer service. Those are more an annoyance though rather than a complete inhibitor to SL residents who find the virtual world enthralling enough to stay after their first few weeks of exploring. By and far it is the in-world economy - the ability to earn and have the power to buy items - that drives most residents and so I have focused on that problem.
So where does this leave Second Life? Obviously it is still profitable for Linden Lab or it would have closed. The in-world economy, however, is no longer the robust free market model it once was. In fact, there is no longer the basic belief that lindens can be earned through creativity and hard work. Today the general rule is either make a free account to have fun or register one to buy land and lindens with no expectations of recovering the cost of tier and doing business. The only linden / revenue generating possibility that remains is producing products and selling them exclusively on the SL Market (promoting and selling in-world is like throwing money away). Even this is coming under attack by Linden Lab though with their program of offering free high-end products available to paid members.
So what is the future for Second Life? As long as it is making money for Linden Lab they will keep it open. Most of their revenue is made in land tier - although that is declining at a steady pace now - and sales on the marketplace. These are inseparably linked too since products sold on the market can only be used in Second Life. Consequently, the marketplace has become the barometer to watch concerning the health and future of Second Life. If there is a significant decline in the marketplace it will signal a corresponding decline in grid use and Linden Lab income. How far that decline has to go before Linden Lab closes the grid is anyone's guess, but until it happens SL will chug along much like Yahoo! and AOL do today, still making a profit for its RL owners but otherwise becoming non-existent.

I have not made an alt in years but if this is true - that age verification is simply stating you are over 18 without additional proof - then Linden Lab has reverted back to its original process before coming up with its adult rating system. Since both worked hand-in-hand it would seem the grid should drop the largely-ignored adult rating system and revert back to a PG / Mature structure again.
Of course there is one major change that creates friction; the teen grid is no longer around and main-grid residents can be as young as 16. If the game is all based on the honor system though, Linden Lab should assume the 16-17 year olds will respect the rules and only view PG content until they are 18 and update their own permissions. Similarly, anyone 15 or younger should understand they are not allowed in SL and stop registering as soon as they read that during the avatar creation process.
I know, I know, there are one or two residents who may not follow the honor system but they are a minority, right?